Leeds United v Everton 18th August 2025 at Elland Road please log in to view this image Welcome back to the 2025/26 season for our first game back in the Premier League. Before I start my blog, I want to thank everyone for all their good wishes for my birthday last week. It’s been a week of celebrating my birthday and organising a party for family and friends which has taken up a lot of my time. I was overwhelmed with gifts, flowers and cards and am so grateful to have these people in my life. I’m sure my late husband was here with us in spirit too. Although I will stay 35 in my head rather than double 35 as my birthday says, I am privileged to have been there to see the best team ever under Don Revie and my hero Billy Bremner. The priceless friendships built up ever since then are evident today and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The saying no pain no gain is true as after a 6km walk yesterday, my sandals weren’t tight enough which meant I ended up in severe pain. After two aquafit sessions and 20 lengths, the difference today is amazing. Keeping moving has certainly helped but at least I will be in my own seat today and not reliant on standing up and down with the crowd. Our eighth latest signing is Yorkshireman 28-year-old Dominic Calvert Lewin an attacker signed from Everton on a three-year deal. Mateo Joseph has now left the club on loan to La Liga side Real Mallorca; Charlie Crew is on loan to Doncaster Rovers and Joe Gelhardt is on loan to Hull City. As it looks like Jack Harrison will be part of the team going forward, I was asked to comment on it after the game in Dublin: “It didn't surprise me hearing boos but there were a lot more than I thought there would be. I'd already come round to the fact that we may be keeping him, and I watched him put a lot of effort into the warmup as well as being one of a very few who interacted with the fans. To me that was the Bielsa effect. I would never boo our players and as long as he puts his all into playing for the shirt he will win the fans over. Whilst many of our fans won’t forget his mother’s social media posts, it is important that he keeps his playing on the pitch as the main topic and I think he'll be fine. I also thought he played well in defence so think he would still be an asset for us. Hearing Harrison has put money behind the bar for at The Moot Hall Arms today was also a great gesture.” After going to the Holbeck first and then to the Peacock, it was great to catch up with some fans from Australia and my old mates from Wrexham at the latter. After a long chat I headed with my granddaughter to the Pavilion, and it was great to bump into more fans from Australia who moved from Halifax a number of years ago. Catching up with fans at the front of the Kop before the start of the game was tinged with sadness, as one of the Halifax lads who would have had a joke afterwards with us on one of the message boards died recently. Thank you so much for all the hugs, support and I loved catching up with everyone again. Caught up with one of my old mates at half time too. Team: Perri, Ampadu, Gudmundsson, Bogle, Rodon, Piroe, James, Gnonto, Stach, Struijk, Tanaka. Subs: Aaronson for Gnonto (67), Gruev for Ampadu (78), Harrison for James (78), Nmecha for Piroe (78), Longstaff for Tanaka (90+2). Subs not used: Darlow, Byram, Ramazani, Bornauw. Score: Leeds won 1-0 with Nmecha scoring a penalty (84). Attendance: 36,820 with approximately 2,900 Everton fans. Referee: Christopher Kavanagh. Booked: None from Leeds. The atmosphere was electric as the teams came out onto the pitch as we began our Premier League campaign. Leeds started out at a fast pace taking the game to Everton with plenty of attacking football. Piroe brought a save out of their keeper as we kept up the pressure. With Leeds having most of the ball, we had to be on our toes to prevent Everton scoring with their first attack, but they didn’t really have many chances in the first half. The nearest we came to scoring was a great shot from Gnonto that wasn’t far over the crossbar, and one headed off the line from a Struijk header. It had been a great first half performance from Leeds as we went in on level terms. The second half saw Everton come out with renewed vigour as they stepped up the pace. My hopes of them being tired out from our constant pressing in the first half was far off the mark as they started putting us under pressure. Gnonto hit the side netting after seeing another shot saved by the keeper. After Ampadu received treatment for an injury, it looked like Farke was going to sub him but instead it was only Gnonto who came off to make way for Aaronson. As Everton were still a threat, Perri made the save to keep them out and they had another shot over the crossbar. When James was brought down on the edge of the box the referee played on when he should have given a foul. He had been letting the game flow a lot which was good, but he missed that one. Leeds then made a triple substitution which made the difference in settling the side and getting us back on top. I said if we got one goal then we’d get another, but we needed that first goal. With that after a good run from Harrison down the right, the ball was crossed to Stach who hit a hard shot that was saved by the arm of the Everton player as the referee immediately pointed to the spot. What I’d forgotten about at this time was that we had VAR to contend with, so it seemed to be ages before a decision was made, and the penalty given. Nmecha stood up to be counted and scored a great penalty into the bottom left corner in front of us with the keeper going the right way but with the power of the shot, he didn’t stand a chance. As Elland Road erupted the noise was immense making my ears ring, with wild celebrations all around. Stach had another great shot saved by the keeper and with seven minutes of injury time added on, we held on to get our first three points of the season. I don’t normally put a prediction on scores as I get them wrong more often than not but as 2-0 popped into my mind, I went for that. My aim is to get three points from every home game and a point from every away game. It may be a pie in the sky prediction, but we need to aim for that as a minimum but a draw and not a win would still be a bonus; I’m looking at us ending up 11th at the most and not below 15th. Getting off to a fantastic start with three points today was a great team performance with plenty of battling and not giving up which was great to see from Leeds which we can only build on. Being in my happy place at my second home was evident at the end of the game as I came out of the ground smiling and full of hope. It was also great to meet up with a fan who had travelled from Argentina to see us and lovely to see he had Bielsa on the back of his shirt. With a tough battle on Saturday as we head to Arsenal, the battling team spirit and the fans getting behind them is all we can ask for. See you there – LUFC – Marching on Together! https://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/ Sponsored by Clearwell Pest Control https://www.clearwellpestcontrol.com/ please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
